Knitting machine



E: WILDT E! AL 7 1,987,091

KNITTING MACHINE Jan. 8, 1935.

Filed Feb. 21, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Jan. 8, 1935. w r L1,987,091

KNITTiNG MACHINE Filed Feb. 21, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS withthe aid of What are commonly known as Patented Jan. 8, 1935 kNrr'rmMACHINE Edwin Wildt'and flem-ytHai-old Holmes, Leicester, England,assignors to Jacquard-Knitting Machine Company,Inc;,,Pl1ilaglelphia-,Pa., acorporation o'fNew York Application February21, 1934, Serial No'. 712,314

In Great Britain- November 8 1932 i '4 Claims. (or. es asl Thisinvention consists in improvements or openwork effects can be producedinthe fabric pelerine stitches.

A pelerine stitch is to be understood-as one in" which a' needle-joining'or sinker loop,,or two or more of them, or the yarn between adjacentneeldle loops is displaced from'itsnormalposition and is passedaroundand over a needle 'or-needles on one or opposite sides of thatloop or loops. For instance, it may be passed over a needle to one sideof it only or it maybe expanded to; pass simultaneously 'over adjacentneedles on both sides. The needle joining orsinker loopis usuallymanipulated by means of an instrument which can either be insertedbeneath theloop after'the latter has been formed or can be positioned inrelation to the yarn so that the yarn is drawn'over the instrument. Theinstrument is then manip-.

ulated (and preferably is also specially shaped) so that by moving itthe stitchcan either'be distheir loop-transferring operationsselectively, i; e. in accordance with a desired pattern or design,

at stitches where loops are carriedby such'instruments and accordinglyat stitches wherepe l erine or openwork stitches can be made. This canbe done, for example, by causing the instruments to take theyarnselectively,o-r (say all the instruments taking the yarn) by causingonly selected instruments orselected needles to perform thelcoptransferring operation.

Also the present invention comprises, inor for a knitting machine, anarrangement readily per: mitting the combination of pelerinestitch-forming instruments and pattern mechanism 3 that selectivelyoperates said instruments'and which is of the type that employs aperforated pattern f strip and selectors which control the action of thepel erine stitch-forming instruments and which are themselves selectedby thelpatt'ern strip. I

actuating means operative to position them: to

' accumulate untransferredof pelerine stitch tobe p H the severalfigures offthe drawings. The invention alsocompriseainaknitting machinethe combination of pelerine. instruments,

received andgto holdthemin the transferring. D0: sition,'and' inaddition operative. on the instru-.. mnts before they reach theloopxtransferring position for selectively causing them a'gain'to occue;pya yarn receiving position when it is desired to? 5 i jnkerloops on theinstruments thus selected. j p

' When it is stated that theIaddition'al means; acts selectively'o'n theinstruments it is to be'un-f v derstood that such additional meansmayact on 10 all or anyselected one or thereof the instrmnents and thosethat are not selected will; thereiore, not; be again moved to theyarn-receiving position but Will remain in theloop-transferring;position.

The invention may also be said to comprisain a; 15 knitting machine, asuccessionfof feed and their; -f ferring positions spaced apart aroundthe circum' f' ference of 'or along thelehgtlf of theneedle-;bed,1 incombination 'with pelerine instruments and tuatin'g means operative ontheinstrumentsb 20 tween: each feed and a succeeding .transterringjposition for 's'electively controlling theposition or; the instrumentsto determine which-of them-shall be moved to a yarn-receivingposition'before they reach the feed, and after they have passed thefeed,which of them shall be moved first to a loopj transferring positionand back againfto ayarn'. receiving position, or which of them shall'niove to and remain in the loop-transferring position.

In order that the invention maybe moreclea'r- L 30? I r 1 Figure 3 isadeveloped -"view of als'eetion'of' go the cam mechanismfor thepelerine'instruments,

this section corresponding substantially f to the- 3 portion of the cammechanismshown'in Figureilf Figure 4 is a section similar to'Figure 1 onenlarged scale to showadetail of constr'uction,'i45""' Figures 5 and 6are knittingdiagrams'illustra: tive ofpelerine work.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in i, I '7 M50,

The machine illustratedcdmprises a dial -needle bed 10 having in itstricks'dial-nee'dles li of the ch pe- Associated with the dais acyIinderZlZ' -disposed" coaxially with the 'dial and havinglongitu 55dinal tricks formed in. its 'outerperipheryto receive pelerineinstruments each of which is movable longitudinally of the cylinderunderthe control of the patterning means. The latter may 5 be, for instance,pattern meanssuch as is described in the specification of prior BritishLetters Patent no..-293-,-os9. 4 Such a mechanism comprises anintermittently-rotatable p1ate'r'i i'oll'er13; selectors 14 which areslotted at 15 so as to pivot on a spindle 16 and to move lengthwise onthe spin;

dle, each selector having a feeler-finger .114 to drop throughperforations in the patternhand' 1 17 into the slots in the roller13'andt1ien en-. gageable by a slot wall as-fthe roller 't lturns vIormovement of the respective-- selectors rorwamlyl and a raising cam 17 toengage and lift the ends v of those selectors 14 whiehgby sele ction ofthe perforated pattern band 117 hayesbeen moved forwardly to theposition illustrated in Fig. 1.

The pelerine'instruments are indicatdat "18': and associated with eachsuch. instrument, forconvenienceof constructionfis a jack 19, the

iawer end or whichfisengagleable by therespective;

selector liassbciaited with'itf el jally Speaking t ih fei i f e t extsiohs f the ensetive 'pelerine instrumentsl In' the examples"illustrated each pelerine in strument is intended to be. receivedin theseparate cha n t e c nder. zih h h s W thi th invention to arrange in;each cylinder trick. two

' peler'ineinstr imentsside by side with a selector i l 'ioreachsuch'instrument orfor; each pair of h'st hm h s' i c ht h t meh 1.sfl ev co operat ng pairs in sequence all round-the cylin:

- der or'all round portion of the cylinderover w er n :W F ImlEi h ir Thper n s, i h h irhm ht hf a h p ir. reiater l canf be cast. or receivedand by whichthe sinker.-

Q Wale-.1999} can b an pu ated o e ca tnv r ad- 'h f l ll dl flh- 119thSides Wh nnm one in-, lh he le ate t e; hh h ale. oop .wi l; bedeflected to one side; or thelotheraceording to whi h h t hmhhto apah'Br sed-.1 Wh nt 5 .1 'e hie the. h errwa s .1 01 an e. even allycast'over-a needle lying onthatside of the sinker:-

Wale to which the lookis deflected. c

. he QQKPQIFiQ fiachis umeh h r a v is formed a shallow groove.22,;(F1igpref1) and;

hxohhd h s br i h.and witmnrthe ha l w m v that... inker 9 svfirstxpassed. he;

ns mh ht ein rai d n; imanhermto, e. e:

scribed later, to a; sufficient heighh to bring this tew? t e Path f haa s i is. i

er notch s, f to? f o d a..r hquldered am-l ke extremity in which thesinkerlopp canrest after ti asbeen.ex hhd sl;p efl h eq m how mennef bydr w the hs ms ts dewhwaxdlxandc stitch tribe made. v le .m liii ees hhihe hh exhp at din h around the axis of the machine.

, there will be a position at dia shdl f hihei .u per i etxe; tremitiesthe instruments are provided with deep- 1,987,091 r I t s v needles willbe the usual cam system except that in addition to cams for advancingthe needles to take the yarn and thereafter for causing knitted loops tobe made there will be projecting and return cams for the transferoperation. One such cam system is illustratedin Fig. 2 in whichsuccessive" yarn'ie'ed's are indicated at 24 and 25 respectively, otherfeeds being equi di'stantly spaced 7 The cam system comprises clearingcams 26, stitch cams 27, all

..of which are adjustable, and a fixed cam track 'afford'ingilatchopening and return cams 28 and .needle-advancing cams 29 the purpose ofwhich is to advance the: needles to a position to receive sinker loopsthathave been expanded or deflectedFby the pelerine' instruments. Thus,between the lgnoelringoyer ppint associated with each eed; and theposition of the feed adjacent to it r! 1 h p which needles are projectedfor loop transferrin The ini 0? ha s ihe i s r me isillustrated in Big;3 and a feed point correspond 3140. L i Fig Zjisihdiciated by the samerefer+ encenu neral. order to appreciate therelative Positions of the.two; cam; systems chain-lines inv dicated by the reference characters A;B and C- are marked on both Figs. 2 and. 3. r

Y At position A selected pelerine mstmm entaara raised-,bythe cam 1'1-so that butts so of; the. 111-.

struinents thus selected will be, raised along the cam track incline 31into an upper cam-track 32.1

The utts f n e ct d st um ts t avel-in.

que'ntly the sinker loops are wrapped round the necks ofselected-instruments asindicated; in Fig; the profile, View to thedeftofBr.illustrating hei la i einq it o d al. needles. and instrll-L ments.'rhereafter the selected instruments are retracted down. the; reverseincline .34 to "a position. and-iflnqreselection;occurs the butts of theretracted instruments will; pass beneath a 31?! h tr s 33.- 'no itio Bhezn ee. dles are retractedto draw their loops andconse;

uard-earned, tobe actuated by depression 39. At DQSit-iQH BQJhQinstruments. carrying asinker,

loop are further; depressed-below the level; of,

track 3b thus pulling down the loopvbelow the level of the dial needles,and into the notch 23, dial eedlew hise osition being-complete y t ct d:mm di telv-io owin this; vi at position: O the instruments, are.elevated to carry thelooniabove the dial needle-level and'the dialneeclles are ,projecte d bycam 29;to enter the .expended! sinken loop In.the illustrationua, loop. is shown as expanded bytwo instruments which,ve; simultmw l retracted If,JhOvveVer, it :is desiredto; accumulateuncastoff -{sinker loopsfonthe pelerineiinstruments for a succeedingcourse a re selection will; occur; at 7 position 35 withtheaidoi thepattern mechanism and raising cam 1'1; so -that .the instruments thusreselected are again elevated to the upper track above the guard-cam; 36whereupontheold loop is forcedback into the neckportions 21 of the,in-..

"struments Immediately following this, as will;

be seen from Fig. 2, the next feed is reached) so. that instrumentsthusreselected will receiveanother sinker loop. and the, instruments areagain treated ashereinbeforeidescribed. a I

he ofil vi w t nos q C. m Fi ain indicates; the relative. positions ofdial needles and instruments .at that position.

Summarizing the action of the machine}so -far reaching feed 24 pelerine;instruments are first, selectedpx. ha a t n mech nism; (fo fullerunderstanding of which reference may be made to the specification-ofprior British Letters-Patent No. 293,059) and shortly thereafter andprior to reaching that feed, the dial needles are projected by cam 26.In passing feed 24, the dial needles are retracted'to draw their loops,and sinker loops will be passed around those pelerine instruments thathave been selectively raised and have traversed the cam track 32. Otherinstruments which have not been selected and which traverse the lowercam-track 33 do not receive sinker loops. At position A one instrumentis illustrated as having been selected and its com, panion instrument isunselected. Further rotation ofthe machine retracts the pelerineinstruments untilthey reach the reselecting position 35 whereupon asecond selection may occur if it is desired to accumulate uncast-oifsinker loops on the instruments. Assuming that it is so de sired toaccumulate loops, reselected instruments will be raised by another cam17 into the upper cam-track above the guard cam 36 while instrumentswhich are to yield their loops to the dial needles traverse the trackbelow the guard cam until they reach position C. At thisposition theneedles are again projected by the transfer camv 29 to enter such loopsas are held for them by those pelerine instruments which are in thetransfer position at C and thereafter the pelerine instruments that areto cast off their loops will be drawn down further. by acam such as 37immediately prior to the final projection of the needles by thesucceedingcam 26 to receive yarn at the next feed 25. Itwill'beunderstood that in Fig. 3 a complete section of cam system isshown representing only a portion of the circumference of the wholesystem and that the next section will follow by continuing the camtracks shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 3'with the tracks commencingat the left-hand thereof. Alsoit will be understood that the pattern isadvanced (e. g., platen 13 turned and pattern band 117 advanced onestep), to make a new call on the selectors 14, for each feed as isrepresented by the presence of two of the raising cams 17 in Fig. 3.

In the machine described above it is intended that the needle dial willbe raised for mechanical convenience considerably above the normalposition which such a dial would have in a dial and cylinder knittingmachine. If an existing machine of this nature is to be employed, ,or ifit is desired to be able to employ it alternatively as an ordinary dialand cylinder machine, the normal cylinder verge will not be usable as ameans for supporting the loops during transference. Consequently it ispreferred, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 to 4, to provide a detachablering 38 which can be clipped on to the top of the cylinder 12 to afforda virtual extension of the upper end of the cylinder and to afford aledge upon which the pelerine loops can rest as they are being drawndown to a transferring position. This ensures accuracy in transferring.Had the ring not been provided and had the dial been allowed to remainin its normal position the cylinder top would have had to be removedthus precluding the cylinder from being used for its normal purpose ifand when desired. Thus, the standard type of cylinder can be used andall that is necessary is to displace it from its normal positionrelatively to the dial to afford a greater space between it and the dialand thereafter clip in place the extension ring 38. This ring may beheld in place by spring clips 40 spaced apart at intervals around theperiphery of the ring.

The invention is not limited to the specific'seleotor means describedand illustrated in detail and pattern means other than those usingperforated bands may be employed. providing such or other equivalentselecting means for the pelerine instruments a large variation in therange of patterns producible by pelerine stitches is obtained.

In Fig. 5 sinker loops are shown at 41 as having been deflected to theleft and at 42 as having been deflected to the right and this isobtained by the usein each case of only one of a companion pair ofpelerine instruments. In these two'instances, however, one looponly. hasbeen retained at a time and has been cast off at the transferring position immediately following its formation. At 43 and 44, however, anaccumulation of three loops is shown, and this accumulation is obtainedby reselecting the particular pelerine instruments twice in successionfollowing the original selection before the transfer is made. In Fig. 6pelerine stitches are shown at 45 producible by the use of a pair ofcompanion instruments simultaneously in order to cast off the sinkerloops onto two adjacent dial needles simultaneously and the retention ofonly one loop at a time is here illustrated. At 46, however, anaccumulation of three loops cast off simultaneously to a pair ofadjacent needles with the aid of a companion pair of pelerineinstruments is shown. 7

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our saidinvention and in the manner in which the same is to be performed, wedeclare that what we claim is:

1. In a knitting machine, the combination of a bank of needles, aplurality of instruments, cooperating therewith, adapted to take yarnand; from which yarn taken by the instruments may be transferred toneedles of said bank, means to cause knitting on said needles, atransfer cam for said instruments, a path for said instruments,

alternative to the path over the transfer cam, being provided throughwhich the instruments can pass the transfer cam without transferring,means to direct the instruments to the transfer cam or, alternately, tosaid path, and means to feed yarn,

characterized by thefact that said alternative path directs theinstruments in it to position for taking yarn.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination of a it to position for takingyarn, and pattern mechanism, acting in advance of the transfer cam, todirect the instruments selectively to the transfer cam or, alternately,to said path.

3. The combination with a circular rib knitting machine having acylinder and a dial slotted to receive cooperating stitch-formingelements, and means to move said dial and cylinder relatively, onetoward and from the other, of a cylinder extension ring, and means fordetachably connecting said ring to the cylinder above the normal vergethereof to adapt said machine for use with instruments in the cylinderadapted to take yarn and transfer the yarn taken to needles in the dial.

However, by

- 4.111 a circular'knittin'g machine, the combination of stitch-formingelements including a circular bank of needles and a circular bank ofin-' struments adapted to take yarnat spaces'between adjacent needles ofsaid needle bank and transfer said yarn to needles of said bank, aplurality of means individually allocated to'substantially individualpairs of said needles and their respectively cooperatingyarn-transferring instruments, to actuate at least one member of each ofsaid pairs to control the performance of the looptransferring operationby said elements, a yarn feeder revolving around said :banks to feedyarn to said needles and instruments, mechanism to actuate saidplurality of means, said mechanism operating on said meanssuccessivelyaround said banksat the same angular rate as said .yarn

means controls the movement of said instruments to yarn-takingpositions, and said mechanism-opcrates each of said plurality of meansbetween two adjacent feeds "and in advance of a yarn transferringposition that "lies between said two feeds.

EDWIN WILDT,

HENRY HAROID HOLMES. I

